Friday Inspiration
Remembering Bowie
David Bowie died nine years ago today. I’m going to listen to a LOT of Bowie over the coming year, leading up to the 10th anniversary of his passing, and I plan on commemorating next year’s anniversary in a special way. I first attended one of his concerts when I was fifteen years old and he mesmerized me from the moment he took the stage. I was lucky enough to see him perform two more times. I immersed myself in his discography for the remainder of my teen years and later on began to perform jazz versions of his music with my quartet. His music is very special and inspirational for me.
This is yet another dark video - I find myself gravitating to deeper and darker art in the darkest months of the year. “Lazarus” was the last single he released and the final video he filmed, during his late stage cancer struggle. The song is about his mortality and hints at his impending death. It is remarkable, the way he embraced the struggles of his last year, creating the album Blackstar, one of his greatest works of art. It went to number one on the charts the week it was released - the week he died. It was his 26th studio album and the first and only number one album on the U.S. Billboard 200 of his career.
I promise something more uplifting next week, but I do urge you to check this out if you’ve never seen the video or heard the song before. It really is a gem of piece of music.
When the video(s) for Blackstar surfaced I honestly did not know Bowie had cancer and that he was on his last legs. He had a great while at the same time a soft way of conveying his message through his creative genius and videos. I miss him, we all miss him and I wish I could be part of the audience one more time.
In my humble opinion "Disturbed" should still have won the Grammy for "Best Rock Performance" over "Blackstar". Why Beyonce was in the mix I will never know. "Space Oddity" was my 1st introduction to David Bowie in 1969 when I was 12.